Junior Austin Bishop finished atop the individual leaderboard for the second time in his career as the Eagles finished third out of five teams in the Pacific Coast Highway invitational at Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside, Calif. on Nov. 7-8. The Eagles led all teams heading into the third and final round on day two, but ultimately dropped two places despite Bishop beating out Frank Ingul of Menlo College for first place.
The Eagles fell behind early, finishing the first round in last place by four strokes despite excellent performances from Bishop, who shot a 75, and senior Tristan Ginkel, who shot a
76. However, Biola’s scores dropped off from there in what would become a theme of the tournament, as junior Parker Buck, senior Cameron Bauer and sophomore Kaden Page shot an 84, 85 and 88, respectively. Menlo finished the round in the lead as a team with Ingul shooting a 75 of his own to lead the way.
The Eagles shot up in round two, shaving 18 strokes off their first round score to finish at 302. Bishop again paved the way with a 74, just two over par. Ginkel, Bauer, and Buck tied at 76, with the latter two making huge strides from their round one scores. Page improved by two strokes to finish at 86. The Eagles maintained a total score of 622 at the end of the first day to leap into first place, six strokes ahead of Simpson University.
However, Biola could not carry over their momentum into day two. In the third and final round, every Eagle except Page added strokes to their scores compared to round two. Bishop only fell a little behind his pace, notching a 77. That proved just enough to edge out Ingul, who shot a 79 after entering the round with a one-stroke lead over Bishop. Ginkel collapsed late, finishing with the worst round three score at 85, and neither Bauer nor Buck could get their score under 80 either.
Menlo took the team title with a total score of 932, with Oregon Tech coming in second at 938. The Eagles settled for a third place rank with 943 strokes. The team will get an extended break for the holidays, with no competition scheduled until the Cal State San Marcos Fujikara Invite in San Marcos, Calif. on Feb. 5-6.
